Customs dismantled the smuggling of a collection of coins and banknotes with pieces of outstanding historical value in the control of a ship from Colonia, Uruguay.
The procedure consisted of a vehicle control at the landing of the Superferry Express: the inspection, which included the participation of a customs duo - guide and can Emma—, focused on a Chevrolet vehicle driven by an Argentine citizen, who was accompanied by his partner, also Argentine.
Prior to the arrival of the ship, the organization headed by Guillermo Michel had received an alert from Interpol, since The citizen referred to had three criminal cases pending. For its part, Customs confirmed that it had received, months ago, an electronic judicial notice related to the same person. The same was framed within the Cultural Assets Law (Law No. 25.743), precisely for issues related to the import of numismatic pieces.
That is why customs officers had planned to specially examine the couple's vehicle, which initially, He denied having any assets to declare. Likewise, the Customs staff proceeded to inspect the trunk with the support of the can Emma, who immediately behaved as if she were in the presence of narcotics and/or foreign currency.
In response, the inspectors carried out a more thorough check of the luggage, which resulted in the discovery of a copious amount of banknotes and coins from different countries around the world. Later, more collectibles were found in the spare tire space of the vehicle. Upon discovering this, the passengers confirmed that the merchandise found was indeed their property.
Thus, Customs seized the discovered merchandise, since everything indicated that far exceeded both the allowance provided for in the baggage regime for entry by river (USD 300 per person) as the currency entry limit (USD 10 thousand per person). Indeed, given its large quantity and diversity, the verification and assessment of the merchandise is still in process, but The value of what has been discovered so far exceeds 120 thousand dollars.
Featured pieces
Among the seized collection, pieces of notable historical value were identified, such as a series of Ukrainian and German banknotes dating back to the years of World War II, which were used in the prisoner of war camps of the Nazi regime. One of the notes had inscriptions that, translated into Spanish, read: “This voucher is only valid as a means of payment for prisoners of war and may only be spent and received by them within the prisoner of war camp or in the case of working days in the purchasing offices expressly designated for this purpose. It may only be exchanged for legal currency at the corresponding warehouse management office. Violators, imitations and counterfeits will be punished.” Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht”.
On the other hand, numismatic specialists from the Customs have identified several high value pieces: With nearly half of the collection surveyed, the most valuable is a Puerto Rican banknote A 5 dollar coin from 1909, worth an impressive USD 1.750, was also found. Franco, from the island of Martinique (year 1947), valued at USD 1.100. In turn, a Chilean 1 peso banknote from 1879, is worth no less than USD 1.000. On the other hand, Two American banknotes from 1862 of striking denomination, 1,25 and 1,50 dollars, They are priced at $750 and $850 respectively.
There are also coins dating back to the 18th century, of which The oldest is one from the Kingdom of France dating from 1226-1270, When the crown was in the hands of Louis IX. There are also One from 1785, from the reign of Louis XVI, who would soon be overthrown by the French Revolution and executed by guillotine..
Communication to Justice
The agency headed by Guillermo Michel notified the Economic Criminal Court, which ordered, in addition to the seizure of the merchandise, taking photographic samples of the bills and coins (ensuring that their serial numbers were visible), taking fingerprints and reporting the background of those involved and, finally, both ordering the ban on leaving the country of these such as performing a verification of your address.
The seized material was, in fact, kept in the custody of Customs, which placed it in eight cardboard boxes, duly sealed and signed. So far, five have been recovered.
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